The drug and device industry now funds six times more clinical trials than the federal government, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.

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That means companies with financial interests in the studies now have more control over what doctors and patients learn about new treatments.

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Clinical trials test new therapies on humans for safety and effectiveness before they are approved for wide use.

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While the companies are expected to pay for trials of their products, studies exclusively funded by them can be narrow or even biased, said Dr. Stephan Ehrhardt, the Johns Hopkins study leader. This was less of a concern in the past because industry-funded research wasn’t the dominant source of information. It’s a different story today.

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“When looking at the numbers, I see an imbalance,” said Ehrhardt, an associate professor in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology. “Industry doesn’t fund trials most important for public health because they have no incentive to do that.”

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The trend emerged as the budget for the National Institutes of Health the primary source of government funding for clinical trials has been slashed 14 percent since 2006 amid belt-tightening in Washington.

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The funding pinch has been acutely felt at Johns Hopkins, which receives the largest share of NIH money of all academic institutions.

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Mark Grayson, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, which represents the country’s large biopharmaceutical researchers and biotechnology companies, said companies are not only finding important new therapies but adhering to voluntary principles that outline ethics and sharing of clinical information.

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“Pharmaceutical companies are committed to conducting rigorous clinical trials and communicating those results,” said Grayson. “Clinical trials are important to determining the efficacy and safety of the medicines patients need.”